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Pictured from left to right, Department of Pennsylvania AMVETS 1st Vice Commander Gerard Gurnari, Congressman Charles W. Dent, Fifteenth District of Pennsylvania, and Department of Pennsylvania AMVETS VAVS Representative Richard White
Commander Gerard Gurnari and Richard White represented AMVETS (American Veterans) on March 9 at OraSure Technologies in Bethlehem in honoring Congressman Charles W. Dent, Fifteenth District of Pennsylvania for the success the Veterans Mental Health and Other Care Improvements Act of 2008 which he introduced. T
he Act will allow the VA to adopt Center for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for routine HIV testing, counseling and early diagnosis. According to the VA, 55 percent of HIV positive veterans suffered significant damage to their immune systems by the time of their first diagnosis, and as many as 40 percent had accessed the VA on average six times prior to diagnosis. Adopting the CDC’s critical guidelines will not only benefit the 23,000 veterans known to be living with HIV, but also enable the VA to diagnose and treat others with the disease more efficiently.
The tour of OraSure Technologies displayed the automated machinery in operation from the start to the finish product; assemble a saliva test device. In 20 minutes the results produced will reveal if a patient is HIV Positive. In the near future, similar saliva testing to determine if a patient is infected with “Hepatitis C” may be also become a federally approved practice.